User blog:Brady26/Fate of the Wyrmspeakers
Picking up where the group last left off, they arrived at the Lord's View Inn after having set off to find somewhere to rest and enjoy some of Okarthel's famous crab meat pits. They traveled with Varram the White in tow, who was anxious that they not linger too long in the city, a sentiment shared by many in the group. Meeting Khez at Lord's View At the Lord's View the group encountered Khez, the barbarian warrior from their first encounter with the Cult of Tiamat over a year ago in Cragmaw Cave. After enjoyings some food and exchanging reasons for being in the Dragon Lands,Khez asked to accompany the group as they departed for Grostere. As one they set off towards the great harbour to find passage out. As they left the inn, the draakhorn ''sounded, with some of the dragonborn in the city celebrating the sound and others growing concerned, as the tensions rose the group decided they had no more need to remain in the city. Departure from Okarthel The group tried various methods to find a suitable vessel, Johann inspecting various vessels and attempting to negotiate with the captains of a number of the dreadnought vessels, but it was Khez and his impressive displays of strength in helping on the docklands as well as his ability to calm some of the lesser dragonspawn that led them to a smuggler named Sadug who owned a vessel. The old bronze dragonborn was willing to take them across the Dividing Sea in his boat to Charley for a thousand gold for all of them. The vessel was cramped with the group, Varram, Sadug and his firstmate Dug, a kobold. Johann passed some time by playing his flute, and the group chatted about their concerns or interests, Arrival in Grostere Sadug managed to get them close to the cliffs of Charley, getting them to a small shack that clung to the bottom of a cliff which had a rope ladder ascending to the top. As they ascended and began to walk towards what Sadug had called a "city", they were spotted by a watchtower which sent Crusaders to investigate these new arrivals. The Crusaders were led by Lusir Sauvage who recognised Darion and greeted him, the Lord Commander showing the writ from the Council and demanding that they be allowed to pass, the Crusaders offering them escort and mounts to get to the capital city as soon as possible. During the journey Johann spoke to Sauvage, warning him that he did no trust that Darion had the same intentions for Varram as the rest of them, the Crusader assuring him that he would keep an eye on all of them. The Crusaders prayed every morning, delivering the New Truth to one another as they were empowered by the Sun God. Just before they arrived in Grostere City, the ''draakhorn once again sounded, and as they reached the city they saw that many more people had flocked to the safety of the Crusaders, packing the streets with concerned citizens, who parted before the stern calls of Lusir Sauvage. As they moved through the city they heard load calls from scholari from the Institute of Truth who called out extracts from the New Truth, calling for pilgrims to travel to other lands and restore lost faith, for Crusaders to guard the faithful, for magic to be brought under th control of the Church and for people to prepare for all manner of terrors that would see them destroyed in the coming age. Reaching the Cathdrel of Pelor, they were greeted by King Sanctus II who was speaking to a crowd a the gates, welcoming the group as they arrived. The group rested in their rooms after they had informed the king of their progress, Sanctus asking that they not give Varram the White to him as a prisoner and instead they remain his until they had presented him before the Council and had all invested parties state their claim. Words of Warning Khez met with Delann Winterwolf and the two discussed the destruction of the Redsands Enclave that Khez had hoped to find. They agreed that they were stretch too thin as an organisation and would require help from the Alliance in order to help the fight against the Enclave. Kadmos and Rack restocked their supplies at the quartermaster, learning that magical weapons had been confiscated by the Church of Truth and brought to the Institute to be inspected. Johann started to look around for a smith that was capable of crafting firearms, but found that such weapons were not made in Grostere, but one of the recent delegates was Admiral de Lun from the Drenden Protectorate, who he learned carried such weapons. Paying a visit to the Admiral, Johann made a deal with him; the Admiral would provide him with a personally crafted firearm made by one of the best gunsmiths in Etan, and in exchange Johann and his group would not make any unnesscary demands upon the Drenden Protectorate when calling upon aid from Council members. Johann agreed but stated that he could not guarantee such a policy, de Lun offered his own sidearm as a show of good faith, and if all went well they could arrange for a more powerful weapon in the future. Second Council Session During the assembly of the Council, Johann sat with Remi of the Unbidden and Khez sat with Delann, the two feeling quite out of place in this environment. After a prayer led by the Pontif Solier, the council was updated on the results of the expedition to the Sea of Moving Ice, Khez and Johann hearing that Barion Relthorne was now working in Telinor on the material that they had taken from Oyaviggaton alongside Maccath the Crimson, after which the prisoner, escorted by Darion, Rack and Kadmos, was brought in an various accusations leveled at him. Ambassador Brawnanvil in particular was adamant that he be given to them as his crimes had been commited in dwarven territory and he should be tried as a dwarf as part of their traditions. The representative of the Small Ring, Lady Rian Nightshade claimed that bringing him back alive was foolish, and that any answers they needed could have been taken from his corpse, now they risked retribution from the cult, escape attempts or even a division in the Council. Delann, speaking for the Enclave, simple stated that killing a defenseless creature is wrong, and left it at that. Remi, speaking for the Unbidden, believed that since her agent had given his word to keep Varram safe that they must abide by that, and he should be treated with courtesy, pointing to his cooperation and the potential information he could share. Ba'win of Telinor and the Gifted of Osana presented magical means of getting the prisoner to be compelled to tell the truth, though King Sanctus pointed out that they could provide barriers to deception as well. Many of the more militirsed states, Sang, Hoffendale, Zafra and Stonehold, encouraged Varram to be placed in a secure location, so if they cult did attempt to rescue or kill the dwarf they would be defending from a place of strength, using the Wyrmspeaker as bait. As Darion was torn over what to do with Varram, Khez did not feel it was his place to decide this man's fate and Johann had already said his piece on the matter, it was left to Rack and Kadmos to choose what will happen to Varram. After reviewing their options, Rack and Kadmos elected to send Varram to Osana where the information he had would be extracted by magical means if it was not freely given. The Gifted were surprised but agreed to take on this burden. After that was resolved the Council members each began to raise a number of issues; Duke Randalhost brought forward that frequent raids on settlements across Hoffendale being orchestrated by a red dragonborn were being heralded by the draakhorn, the representatives of the Harlod Brothers ltd. claimed that the Swamp of Dead Men had swallowed up their ports in the Rimecost and that a black dragon had begun to prey on their vessels on the Meer, a number of the Noble States also claimed that representatives from the Cult had made demands of tribute to be offered backed up with threats of raids. But it was Delann who had a most urgent request; settlements in Telinor had recently come under attack by who they believed was a member of the Cult, one who had a preference for the Green Wing of chromatic dragons, with one settlement, Selenkard, having recently come under attack. Khez, Johann, Rack and Kadmos elected to go to Telinor once again whilst Darion took Varram to Osana, Johann wishing the dwarf the best as they parted, though the White Wyrmspeaker was terse in reply, Johann did catch a sincere offer of thanks muttered under his breath as they left. An Imperial Request Before they departed, a Legionnaire of the Quel'Doran Empire came to Kadmos, the Empress Malendrach having requested his presence. Reluctantly, Kadmos agreed, the Legionnaire handing him a scroll cipher as he led him the room guarded by many of the Legions' elite guards. Inside Kadmos met the Empress of Quel'Doran, offering her a curt bow, she beckoned him to follow her onto the balcony where they were joined by another elf who spoke on her behalf, the Empress never saying a word. The ambassador made a request to Kadmos, that the target of their next mission, Nerovain, not be killed and instead be given to members of the Legion at a site marked on the cipher. Asking why he should do this, as up until now Kadmos had been left to his own devices by the Empire, the ambassador agreeing but stating that that could changed. He also pointed out that the Legions of Quel'Doran have no quaims with fighting dragons and they would be a powerful ally in the coming conflict. Kadmos agreed to take the cipher, saying he would do his best but could not offer any garuntees, the Empress smiled and the ambassador thanked Kadmos for coming and allowed him to depart. Arrival in Selenkard The next morning the group arrived in the King's Wood where Delann and Khez waited for them, an aged druid instructing them to lean against a tree which they connected to another in Selenkard, the group emerging in a clearing in the town that had just seen some heavy destruction. Approaching a member of the College that was attempting to repair some of the buildings, they directed them to the upper canopy where the majority of the survivors were being treated by druids. There they met the victims of the attack, asking around they learned that it was a green dragon and a rider that led the attack along with cultists had swarmed in from the forest as the attack began. People seemed conflicted over whether the rider was a human, half-elf or elf, with some not believing that another elf could do this. Looking for who was in charge they met Ga'lin, the warden of the town who was struggling under the pressure of the responsibilty put upon him, but seemed to be handling things with competence and many in the village praised him shouldering the mantle after the death of the town elder Var'in. Tracking the Raiders Khez attempted to pick up the raider's trail, finding a good lead as they set off into the woods to pursue who they believed was the Wyrmspeaker. As they traveled the group tried their best to narrow down the path that the raiders could have followed, Johann and Khez trying to find out from the animals which way they had gone but the birdsong that Johann attempted attracted birds that were into interested in speaking to humans. The Spider's Web Eventually Khez believed he had picked up the trail but ended up walking into a lair of giant spiders, the beasts lunging out of the misty undergrowth to attack the group. As they fought from their web binds, etttercaps attempted to strangle them to death, Khez hacking and slashing at the webs as the carved a path through the overgrown monsters to aid his companions. After the ettercaps were defeated the spiders attempted to flee, the group slashing at them as they attempted to escape, cutting them down.goalor Deciding to press on, the group shared some goodberries Khez produced to help ease their wounds they suffered in the fight. A Test in the Forest Climbing a tree to get a better vantage point the group heard a voice calling out to them for help, rushing to the site they saw an elf woman had been trapped by a fallen tree and was calling out for aid. Rack arrived first and attempted to assess the situation, when Khez arrived he started to lift the tree, the three others helping him. The weight suddenly shifted, risking crushing them as well, but instead the tree rose up by itself, the woman rising up and adopting her true form as some sort of fey creature. She thanked them and offered them a boon in the form of a garland of flowers plucked from her own hair. She then transformed into an owl and flew off, the awakened trees she traveled with stomping after her. The group called out for her to wait and answer some questions but they heard no reply. The Waters of Chuth Deciding to investigate the sound of a river nearby the group encountered a waterfall with emerald green mist eminating from it, the animals around them seeming to pay them no heed as they approached. Reaching out with his senses, Khez discovered that their were people within the rocks behind the waterfall which must hid a cave entrance. Moving into the water the group indeed found a cave entrance and began to stealthly ascend the slick rock, hearing talking from up ahead, the group planned an ambush. Getting the drop on a number of elves, the group knocked them out and found a larger cavern with a pool of water and a number of other entrances leading off it. The Hidden Tunnel At the pool of water Kadmos spied a tunnel beneath the surface that led deeper into the cave. Johann and Khez listened down the tunnels that spread out from the main cavern, Khez hearing a number of voices arguing with one another, whilst Johann smelled sausages being fried on a pan. Rack and Kadmos were eager to explore the tunnel beneath the water, whilst Johann and Khez stayed behind to pull them back should things get dangerous. Swimming down the tunnel, Rack and Kadmos emerged in a dark chamber in a still pool of water. As Rack ascended slowly to the surface, Kadmos accidently swallowed some water and began to cough. As Rack was unable to see he did not know if they were discovered, until a great roar shook the cavern and the sound of a large creature stomping on a pile of gold told them they had found the green dragon's lair. Eyes of Green Rushing in, Rack ignited his blade and began to hack and slash at the dragon who reeled from the attacks, Kadmos too moving to attack, followed soon by Khez and Johann. The four men feeling no fear as the magic of the garlands seemed to prevent the dragon's dreadful presence from overwhelming them. After a fighting the wounded beast, it was Kadmos who slew it, striking it with a dragonslaying arrow earlier, the magic bow Darion had gotten from another fey creature empowering the attacks further. His final arrows striking true and slaying the beast. Fury of the Wyrmspeaker At the sight of the dead dragon, Nerovain who had emerged at a side entrance roared in fury and he and his dragonsouls attacked the party. Kadmos and Nerovain dueling as all around them their allies fought, the two elves locking eyes and blades as they fought. Though they fought them as best they could, all the residents of the dungeon were descending upon them and they began to falter, Johann and Kadmos falling to the zealous rage of the cultists. Khez managed to grab Kadmos and dove into the pool of water as the cultists' blades hacked and slashed at him, only his rage keeping him from falling. Rack stood on the edge of the water, seeing Khez already fleeing he decided that he too should leave, but saw that Johann had fallen unconcious and was at the mercy of the cultists. Making a snap decision, Rack rushed at the cultists, slew one of them and then dove back into the pool after Khez, bolts of poisonous energy being hurled at him as he entered the gloomy water. Flight from the Cave Fleeing the tunnel Kadmos had begun to drown, but Khez was able to revive him with a goodberry that he managed to get Kadmos to swallow. As they ran Kadmos attempted to drink the potion he had obtained in the caves behind the Tomb of Diderius, unfortunatly the potion was poisoned and he once again fell over coughing from the effects, doubling back Khez once again revived him and they fled the caves following the light of Rack's flaming sword. Fleeing into the forest the group shouted whether they should go back for Johann, but as the night seized the misty forest they continued to run. Category:Blog posts